21st CENTURY LEARNING AND
READING VACATION
GUEST POST BY MR. FITZ
My name is Mr. Fitz, and I was Melina’s Language Arts GT teacher for fourth and fifth grade. I would like to start by taking a moment to congratulate Melina on her tremendous success over the last year as an online book reviewer. It is not often that you see someone at her age with such passion, diligence, and entrepreneurial abilities. I am honored to not only know Melina, but to have had the opportunity to teach her, and work alongside of her for two years in our school’s gifted and talented program. She is a teacher’s dream. Not because she was well behaved (which she was), or that she completed all of her work ahead of schedule (which she did). She is a teacher’s dream student because she gets it.
Melina knows what learning is, and what school should be. The best teacher that Melina has ever had is not me, or any other she has encountered in school. It is herself. She continues to push beyond the boundaries of the walls in which she is “taught” all day in school. At the early age of 8 when I met her, she already knew what learning truly was; a life long journey.
Having said all of that, this is the perfect opportunity to segue right into what Melina has asked me to blog about in honor of her one year anniversary; 21st Century Learning. What is 21st Century Learning? There are many theories to consult when looking for that answer, but if you want 21st Century Learning personified, look at Melina. I know I sound like I’m going on and on about her, but it is true.
A reasonable definition of 21st Century Learning that we can all agree on is: learning and using the skills necessary to live, work and thrive in the 21st century. For the purpose of operating my classroom and creating a foundation for infusing these skills into the gifted and talented program I work within, I refer to the model created by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a national organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. It is made up of educators, politicians, and business leaders who have come together to further this mission. As I describe the aspects of the Partnership’s frameworks, you will understand why I believe Melina personifies 21st Century Learning.
In addition to covering the core curriculum subject areas, the Partnership has added skills that should be taught and practiced in schools today. These skills have been sorted into three groups: Life and Career Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, and Information, Media and Technology Skills. I will discuss these skills briefly because this could really be a thesis paper if I were to write about it in depth. Let’s start by covering Life and Career Skills.
The Life and Career Skills include:
• Flexibility and Adaptability
• Initiative and Self Direction
• Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
• Productivity and Accountability
• Leadership and Responsibility
Our school system in America is really not doing a great job of infusing these skills into the classroom activities, routines, and curriculum (That is actually a tremendous understatement, but I don’t want to look like I’m bashing the American school system, at least not in public print.). Our system is too much of a “system”. I know that sounds odd, but it is true. We try to structure and predict the learning that needs to take place rather than allow the learning to happen naturally, according to the developmental level of each student as an individual. This might sound overly technical, so here is a simple way to say it: follow the child. Anyway, that could be the topic of my blog post for next year’s anniversary.
Does Melina exhibit these life and career skills? Absolutely. Her initiative and self-direction are obvious to all of us who follow her blog. The site looks beautiful, the content is at a professional level, and she knows just what she needs to do to be successful. Her productivity is second to none. A book a day? Unbelieveable. She is like a machine. The most amazing part is that she gets all of her required school work complete and still has the time and energy to do this. This is exactly the type of person employers are looking for; a responsible leader who can adapt to their surrounding, be successful in any venture, communicate clearly with others from around the world and, ultimately, get the job done. That is what it is all about. Melina, at age 11, is ready to compete and prosper in the workforce of the future. There are millions of college graduates we cannot say that about.
The Learning and Innovation Skills include:
• Creativity and Innovation
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Communication and Collaboration
The current focus on standardization and testing in American education is causing these important skills to be overlooked. Our schools and students are becoming increasingly focused on finding the “correct” answer, and this is causing them to overlook what is truly important to learn and practice; thinking. When we look at the hobby that Melina has created for herself, we should note that this is the type of thing that students should be doing in schools. Her knowledge of language arts skills is evident in her work, but in class she is forced to answer simple questions about literature and the elements within a piece of work.
While creating, maintaining, and writing her blog, Melina is exhibiting all of the learning and innovation skills that I listed above as well as the core language arts skills that her teachers what to see mastered. Additionally, the blogging allows Melina to go beyond the boundaries of her grade level and gives her the freedom to be a true scholar. When blogging, her skills, knowledge, and thinking are ageless. They are without grade level. There is no ceiling for her to reach and no “assembly line-curriculum” to prevent her from going farther. She is free to be creative and innovative. She thinks critically and solves “real” problems. In addition, she gets the pleasure of communicating and collaborating with all of you, and has joined a network of people that share the same interests as her. She is beginning to see her place in the world, which is something that some people are still looking for into adulthood.
The Information, Media, and Technology Skills include:
• Information Literacy
• Media Literacy
• ICT (Information, Communications & Technology) LITERACY
This set of skills is the most prevalent of the 21st century skills in today’s schools. When most people think of 21st Century Learning, they think technology. Students need to be able to understand how to use technologies, such as the internet, as resources for learning. Today’s educators must show students how to navigate the abundance of information given to them when they do something as simple as a Google search. Additionally, students must realize the power of media and its effect on people’s thoughts, perspectives and actions.
When working with Melina during our units of study, she began to understand media and utilize the information provided by the internet accurately and responsibly. This is something that most schools are doing today, but it is with baby steps. The current Web 2.0 movement has given educators knowledge and tools to allow students to communicate and collaborate with others through technology tools, and create original work digitally for sharing online. Again, this too is done with baby steps. It really comes down to safety. School districts tend to tread lightly when it comes to using these technology-based activities because they do not want students to be exposed to “strangers” or cyber-bullying. However, avoiding these tools is not the answer. Schools need to teach students how to use them safely, effectively and ethically. Many schools around the world are adopting cyberethics programs to teach their students internet and Web 2.0 safety.
Again, let’s look at Melina’s experiences. She is currently 11 years old and is a daily blogger with almost 700 people from around the world following her. Is she in any danger? No. Why? Because she knows how to keep herself safe. I only take a miniscule amount of credit for passing on the knowledge that Melina has when it comes to cyberethics. The real heroes here are her parents. They were the ones that helped her set this up. They were the ones that taught her “cyber-morals” and safety. They are the ones that help her monitor the site for any signs of trouble, and for this I commend them.
There is a light at the end of this tunnel, however. We are seeing more and more schools around America becoming proactive and teaching students how to use technology and Web 2.0 applications morally and safely. Class blogs, vlogs, podcasts and websites are becoming more popular and accepted by school administration. Perhaps on day, in a future of our creating, boring worksheets will be gone and activities like Melina’s blog will be the standard in our schools.
In closing, I would like to congratulate Melina one more time for her success in this venture. I would also like to thank her for inspiring me to continue to learn and grow by being an example of a true scholar. Melina, I am so proud of you, and thank you for asking me to take part in your anniversary celebration. I can’t wait to see what this next year will bring.
Mr. Fitz – Melina’s #1 Fan
*Images courtesy of google images* 
